OCD Chrismas Crafting
I can't stop this year. I started SO many projects and I'm having SO much fun. And so are the kids. But seriously, I do need a Christmas Craft Intervention for real. Let's see what all we've done.
First of all SALT DOUGH ORNAMENTS OUT THE WAZOO. We made a ton of Christmas ornaments that the kids and I painted. We mailed 30 or so to Grammer and Gramper. We painted 30 or so others. We still have that many to paint. Lower left you can see the little bitty MM ornaments I painted for my Moxie Mamas moms group. I told you I was obsessing.
It's like I'm seven - I keep saying this and I mean it. Somehow, I got stuck at age seven with respects to my uncontrollable urge to make crafts. They always seem to be about age seven level. But they leave me feeling very fulfilled. :) And you can see a bunch of unpainted razorback ornaments and gingerbread men.
Here's what I did with the razorback ornaments. One for mom and one for Gran. They're shiny and they say "Go Hogs Go" on the other side. They better LOVE these ornament things. They better hang them up ALL YEAR LONG. :) It says "wooo pig sooie" in case you're wondering, and that's the Arkansas Razorbacks battle cry or whatever it's called.
Here's what we did with some of the gingerbread ornaments. I want to have a tree next year that's ONLY gingerbread men. I love these gingerbread men ornaments more than I can express. We've had them on our Christmas trees my whole life, made from the same little plastic cookie cutter. Amanda was the only friend who could do her entire project - I'll get to that in a sec. They're hanging there with bells in between. Cuter in my mind than in reality, but still cute.
She wanted to paint hers realistically. I prefer them all brown but I like how careful she was to paint hers. They're brighter and sparklier in person.
Anyway, a couple weekends ago, mom and Gran came over for the afternoon and we made crazy amounts of salt dough ornaments. Here's Clara kneading the dough.
I took 2 ornaments per kid and went to Clara's preschool last week. The kids all did a good job painting theirs. I took them home and shellacked them up right shiny and proper.
Elliot loves salt dough ornaments.
Poppye loves salt dough ornaments.
Mama loves salt dough ornaments. I told you. Obsessed.
We all do!
Aren't they wonderful?
Oh yeah, and we also made an alphabet and number set for Mrs. Debbie for preschool.
I love this picture of Clara painting those ornaments.
Okay, and then there are OTHER crafts. So many other crafts. We had our friends TJ and Amanda come over the other night for a Christmas party and they made lots of different crafts. They made these out of some homemade clay, which I love. Isn't he such a cheery lil guy?
This sculpture includes a salt dough ornament.
Great idea. :)
Elliot's Slime Monster:
And this guy's awfully mysterious:
Didn't Clara do such a great job?
Here's Amanda's:
Here are our friends hard at work. TJ stayed for at least two minutes before he went off to play with the Batman toys. :)
Elliot also loves these projects, but he gets frustrated at some point and usually ends up destroying his projects.
We even made our pizza into an art project = pizza wreaths!
Have you ever seen a child eat raw spinach? :)
And they tasted great.
Clara took her time making the little kids' pizza.:)
Looking back, we made real gingerbread men cookies on the day we decorated our tree and I think that is what has inspired this craze in me this year. Also Elliot looks a little crazed. :)
I love Elliot in this picture:
In conclusion, we love Christmas crafts. I'm completely obsessed. Most years it's not this bad. But I love it that I've been this crazy this year. I also made THIRTY little bitty corn bags for all my friends and eight or nine full size corn bags for friends and family. I really have been a busy little Betty Crocker homemaker person this December. I am anxious for normal life to resume in January. But in the meantime, I have more crafts I want to do this week. :) I know, I'm nuts. But obviously this is one of my favorite things in the world. :) Yay for Christmas.
First of all SALT DOUGH ORNAMENTS OUT THE WAZOO. We made a ton of Christmas ornaments that the kids and I painted. We mailed 30 or so to Grammer and Gramper. We painted 30 or so others. We still have that many to paint. Lower left you can see the little bitty MM ornaments I painted for my Moxie Mamas moms group. I told you I was obsessing.
It's like I'm seven - I keep saying this and I mean it. Somehow, I got stuck at age seven with respects to my uncontrollable urge to make crafts. They always seem to be about age seven level. But they leave me feeling very fulfilled. :) And you can see a bunch of unpainted razorback ornaments and gingerbread men.
Here's what I did with the razorback ornaments. One for mom and one for Gran. They're shiny and they say "Go Hogs Go" on the other side. They better LOVE these ornament things. They better hang them up ALL YEAR LONG. :) It says "wooo pig sooie" in case you're wondering, and that's the Arkansas Razorbacks battle cry or whatever it's called.
Here's what we did with some of the gingerbread ornaments. I want to have a tree next year that's ONLY gingerbread men. I love these gingerbread men ornaments more than I can express. We've had them on our Christmas trees my whole life, made from the same little plastic cookie cutter. Amanda was the only friend who could do her entire project - I'll get to that in a sec. They're hanging there with bells in between. Cuter in my mind than in reality, but still cute.
She wanted to paint hers realistically. I prefer them all brown but I like how careful she was to paint hers. They're brighter and sparklier in person.
Anyway, a couple weekends ago, mom and Gran came over for the afternoon and we made crazy amounts of salt dough ornaments. Here's Clara kneading the dough.
I took 2 ornaments per kid and went to Clara's preschool last week. The kids all did a good job painting theirs. I took them home and shellacked them up right shiny and proper.
Elliot loves salt dough ornaments.
Poppye loves salt dough ornaments.
Mama loves salt dough ornaments. I told you. Obsessed.
We all do!
Aren't they wonderful?
Oh yeah, and we also made an alphabet and number set for Mrs. Debbie for preschool.
I love this picture of Clara painting those ornaments.
Okay, and then there are OTHER crafts. So many other crafts. We had our friends TJ and Amanda come over the other night for a Christmas party and they made lots of different crafts. They made these out of some homemade clay, which I love. Isn't he such a cheery lil guy?
This sculpture includes a salt dough ornament.
Great idea. :)
Elliot's Slime Monster:
And this guy's awfully mysterious:
Didn't Clara do such a great job?
Here's Amanda's:
Here are our friends hard at work. TJ stayed for at least two minutes before he went off to play with the Batman toys. :)
Elliot also loves these projects, but he gets frustrated at some point and usually ends up destroying his projects.
We even made our pizza into an art project = pizza wreaths!
Have you ever seen a child eat raw spinach? :)
And they tasted great.
Clara took her time making the little kids' pizza.:)
Looking back, we made real gingerbread men cookies on the day we decorated our tree and I think that is what has inspired this craze in me this year. Also Elliot looks a little crazed. :)
I love Elliot in this picture:
In conclusion, we love Christmas crafts. I'm completely obsessed. Most years it's not this bad. But I love it that I've been this crazy this year. I also made THIRTY little bitty corn bags for all my friends and eight or nine full size corn bags for friends and family. I really have been a busy little Betty Crocker homemaker person this December. I am anxious for normal life to resume in January. But in the meantime, I have more crafts I want to do this week. :) I know, I'm nuts. But obviously this is one of my favorite things in the world. :) Yay for Christmas.